Braking systems are used in vehicles to perform deceleration of a vehicle in a targeted and in particular moderate way during regular driving operation. In particularly extremal situations, for example, full braking, a braking system is frequently operated at its limit, to carry out the best possible or quickest possible braking of the vehicle, for example, to a standstill.
One such scenario in which full braking may be necessary is pedestrian protection. It may thus occur, for example, due to inattention of the driver of a vehicle or also of the pedestrian himself, that the distance between a vehicle and the pedestrian is sufficiently small so that full braking of the vehicle has to be carried out to ensure the physical integrity of the pedestrian. When a pedestrian is referred to hereafter, this is to be considered any object in the travel path of a vehicle which will possibly be significantly damaged in the event of a collision with the vehicle. This may be, in addition to conventional pedestrians, for example, bicycle riders, animals, stationary objects, or also other, in particular smaller vehicles.
It is foreseeable that future vehicle technology is to fulfill increased demands from the field of pedestrian protection. In this case, through suitable recognition and in particular partially autonomous or autonomous braking intervention, a collision with an object, for example, a pedestrian or the like, is to be prevented. A system improvement usually provides a shorter braking distance. The braking distance is determined not least according to possible dynamics of a braking system, therefore, how rapidly a requested pressure may be built up in a braking system in order to actuate brake elements on the wheels, for example.
Sensors and suitable software for reliably recognizing a pedestrian are also required, however, a possible braking power of a vehicle is essentially determined by the pressure buildup dynamics of the braking system. The demands on a braking system with regard to the pedestrian protection are therefore pressure dynamics demands for this braking system. For improved pedestrian protection, a braking system having the greatest possible pressure buildup dynamics is required, to make a time delay as short as possible between initiation of a braking action and final application of the brakes, therefore the full deceleration of the vehicle.